Wrapping Up Montana Beef to School!

Folks, it looks like the cows have finally come home. The Montana Beef to School Project is wrapping up after three exciting years of exploring what factors make beef to school successful! As we reach the end of November, we want to celebrate the work that this amazing coalition of Montana beef producers, processors, schools, and other stakeholders have done in encouraging the use of local beef in every Montana school.

Since the project’s inception in 2015, the tools and findings of the Montana Beef to School Project have given local beef producers, processors, and schools the resources necessary to build strong and sustainable procurement relationships. We’ve researched successful local beef procurement models, conducted training to assist producers and their processing partners interested in selling to schools, created educational guides, promotional materials, student curriculum, procurement templates, and more. By engaging a diverse group of producers and other stakeholders in meaningful roles throughout the past three years, this project has fostered partnerships and garnered long-term interest and investment in local and regional beef markets.

All this means that rather than marking the end of Montana’s beef to school efforts, this project’s wrap-up marks its beginning! In the spirit of Montana’s long and exciting beef to school road ahead, we would like to announce an upcoming resource: the Beef to School Pitch Kit! This will include materials you can use to make the case for beef to school to your board and administration, customizable promotion language, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) template, and local beef price point ranges.

Stay tuned for the future of Montana Beef to School and don’t forget our treasure trove of resources below. Remember that all of our Beef to School resources, including webinars and training presentations, can be found at the Beef to School Webpage and that regular Beef to School updates can be found on the Montana Farm to School Facebook Page. Additionally, we would like to big a BIG thanks to all our wonderful partners, to whom this project owes all its successes.